


Video Games

by allyavenue



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluffy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-20 10:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1507382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allyavenue/pseuds/allyavenue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>.”  She crossed her arms, already feeling competitive.  “I can take out a group of armed guards in minutes with my bare hands, and I can disable any bomb out there purely with my intellect and a fishhook.”<br/>The Doctor nodded slowly in agreement and raised an eyebrow at River with a hint of malice.  “No one’s denying that, dear.  But the question is: can you beat me at video games?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Video Games

**Author's Note:**

> This is a (hopefully) fluffy oneshot I decided to write for River and Eleven's anniversary. I apologize for any inaccuracies, I don't really play video games. But whether you do or not, I hope you enjoy this. Let me know what you think!

            River Song had encountered the most horrendous of monsters, the most dangerous enemies and the most deadly weapons.  But nothing made her stop in her tracks like the sight of the bedroom she shared with the Doctor when she meandered into it tiredly one night.

Their bedroom was composed of four crimson-painted walls with a large open area in the middle.  On the left wall, there was a grand and plush king sized bed covered in a deep purple duvet.  Across from the bed-on the right wall-was a dresser and closet for each of them with a door to the adjoining bathroom in the middle.  It was a seemingly normal bedroom, very unlike the rest of the TARDIS.  River had a sneaking suspicion that it had been a lot different before she and the Doctor had gotten married, but he insisted that he always kept the room clean.

On this night, River could barely see the dressers or the bathroom door when she made her way into the room.  Blocking a good portion of the wall was a flat-screen television that was powered on.  River squinted at the bright light coming from the screen and approached it tentatively.  It appeared to be an ordinary television, albeit a bit large for the room.  River could hear the sounds of a sonic screwdriver mingled with the muttering of a very familiar voice coming from behind it.

“Sweetie?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and resting a hand on her hip.  The Doctor almost never brought his crazy schemes into their room.  He mostly kept his tinkering and inventing to the console room, where the TARDIS could clean up after him.

The Doctor popped up from behind the screen, his hair a bit puffed up and a few beads of sweat on his brow.  So, he was planning something then.  “Yes dear?”  He asked while standing.  He had shed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.  His braces hung off his hips.  In his arms were a dozen black, thick cables.

‘Would you care to explain why there is a television blocking my way to the washroom?”  River inquired while standing on her toes in an attempt to see what her husband was up to.

“Funny thing, I was just about to call you in here.”  The Doctor hopped out from behind the screen and dropped the cables with a clatter.  At the center of them was a sleek black box.  Something River recognized from her childhood spent with Amy and Rory.

“Video games, Doctor?  Really?” She tried to contain her grin and sat on the edge of their bed.

“Why not?  It’s the new X-box 8000!”  The Doctor tossed a game controller to River, which she caught easily.  “Well, new for the year 2184.  The controllers are from the early 2000s, I reconfigured the system so that we could use them, hence all of the wires.”  He bounced onto the bed and ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to smooth it down.  “What do you think?”

River fiddled with the controls on the unit she held in her hand.  “Video games are all fine and good dear.  Frankly I could beat you in just about any of them.”  She raised a single finger to silence the Doctor when he began to protest.  “But do you remember the last time we played Monopoly?  We broke the record for longest game ever played by a longshot.”

“And that was quite an accomplishment.  But-“

“And when we played Twister with my parents?  I believe there was a total of 3 sprains and a black eye, not to mention the vase.”  River continued.

“Oh don’t start on the vase.  Neither of us liked the vase to begin with, but Brian Pond gave it to me.”

River shook her head.  “I know.  Anyways, some of us do require at least a few hours of sleep, especially after all the running we did today.

The Doctor sighed and claimed his chance to speak.  “I know I know I know.  But it’s a video game; it can be paused at any time.  And I will!  Scout’s honor.”  He winked, figuring he must have been a scout at some point or another.

River bit her lip and thought for a moment, deciding whether to play or not.  Her doubt was overridden by fond memories of childhood sleepovers with Amy.  They had stayed up until the sunrise decimating the large collection of games Amy owned until their eyes burned and not a word could be spoken between the two of them without somebody bursting into a fit of giggles.  All the fun had stopped as soon as Mels's crimes became more serious.  Of course, Amy and Rory’s budding relationship had gotten in the way of it as well.  She missed those times though, more than she would ever admit.

“Okay.”  She said and let the grin she had been holding back make an appearance.  She clutched the controller eagerly.  “So what kind of games are we playing?  They’re not all the same.  I’m guessing you don’t have any of the violent ones, though they can actually be fun.  Wrestling is okay, racing is a bit boring, sports games are for amateurs, and before you even make an offer, cooking games are for toddlers.”  She took a breath after this, realizing she had been speaking very quickly.  She laughed shortly and shook her head.  “Whatever, I’ll still beat you regardless.”

“Oh really?”  The Doctor said, a bit stunned from River’s speech.  “Well I will have you know that I have expertly flown this ship-“

River snorted.

“Ahem.  I have flown this ship for over a thousand years.  I can hack a large variety of computers in a heartbeat and I have excellent hand-eye coordination.”  The Doctor said proudly.

River rolled her eyes.  “Well first of all, I disagree with your last point entirely.  And if you remember, I can fly the TARDIS much more expertly than you and it only took me a few years of popping in and out to learn all the ropes.”  She crossed her arms, already feeling competitive.  “I can take out a group of armed guards in minutes with my bare hands, and I can disable any bomb out there purely with my intellect and a fishhook.”

The Doctor nodded slowly in agreement and raised an eyebrow at River with a hint of malice.  “No one’s denying that, dear.  But the question is: can you beat me at video games?”  He pulled a disc from the pocket of his trousers and kissed it with a dramatic _smack._   Grinning, he crawled over to the gaming console and popped the disc into it.  The screen on the television-that had previously been shining a blinding white light at them-was illuminated with a colorful cartoon fighting ring; dramatic music blasted through the speakers.

“Wrestling?  Have you selected this because you know that you can’t beat me at it in real life?”  River teased.

“To be fair, you haven’t exactly challenged me to a serious match.”  The Doctor plopped down next to River and pressed play.  “Now stop stalling, let’s see who really is better.”

Two hours later, the previously tidy bedroom the couple had been sitting in was a mess.  The bed comforter was strewn across the floor.  At some point around the hour-and-a-half mark, one of the two dressers had been knocked over onto the floor.  As if this wasn’t bad enough, the two inhabitants of the room looked no better.

The Doctor had kicked his shoes off and tied one of his suspenders around his head like a sweatband in the hopes that it would make him look cool and tough.  His hair was a bird’s nest and his eyes were manic.  However, the Doctor’s messy hair was nothing compared to the kerfuffle now atop River’s head.  She was able to keep every curl in place during a firefight, but two hours of intensely competitive gaming had turned it wild.   Unlike the Doctor, River had not gone crazy.  Instead, she kept a cool and reserved demeanor, speaking little while gaming and showing almost no emotion while her husband whooped and ranted.  They had gone through the wrestling game in a mere twenty minutes.  Racing had proved a bit more time consuming, taking them 50 minutes.  Ten of the remaining forty minutes were spent actually wrestling-The Doctor having claimed that he had lost the video game because he had not properly warmed up.  He claimed that racing had “quickened his reflexes” and that he was “ready to wrestle _right now_ ”.  Unfortunately for him, River had taken his claim quite literally.  She decided to wipe the smug look off of the Doctor’s face by pouncing on him.  He yelped from surprise and squirmed out from under her.  Thus, they both ended up rolling around the bedroom in a very undignified and animalistic manner.  The match came to a conclusion when River accidentally knocked into the dresser, sending it onto the floor with a loud “thump.”

The rest of the time had been spent-to River’s dismay-playing a cooking game.  The torture of such a childish game had only been lessened by the fact that they were both terrible at it.  Their methods of playing were almost completely opposite of one another.  River focused meticulously (and borderline obsessively) on accuracy, to the point that she didn’t have enough time to complete all of the tasks.  The Doctor flew through the cooking challenges with amazing speed, but did most of them incorrectly.  He spoke out loud, yelling at the game and himself while River repeated the instructions to herself over and over in her head.

By the end of the two hours, both of them were agitated and tired.  The Doctor stood and approached the television with a foot extended, ready to kick.

“Stop!”  River exclaimed and yanked the power cord out of the wall, causing the screen to shut off and the music to stop.  “Do you see what’s happening to us?  I _told_ you so.”

The Doctor sighed and removed the suspender from around his head.  “Oh really?  That’s rich coming from you, River dear.  Have you seen your reflection lately?”  He retorted as he began to remake the bed.

“You’re commenting on my looks?  That was quite a display you had going on, Rambo.”  River chuckled and lifted the dresser back into its normal position.  She walked around the room and stretched, feeling her back crack.  “So, if I won wrestling and you won racing, who won cooking?  That would determine the overall winner, and we have to have one you know.”  She settled onto the bed, her hair pillowing around her face messily.

The Doctor sprawled on the bed next to River and propped himself up with his elbow.  “Do we?  What’s wrong with a good ol’ fashioned tie?”  He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.  “Well, seeing as I actually completed the game, I win.”

River sat up and crossed her arms in protest.  “No way!  I actually did them correctly!  It’s just like flying the TARDIS, everything needs to be organized.”  She argued.

“But it doesn’t matter!  Nobody is actually eating the food, so who cares whether it’s cooked correctly or not?”  The Doctor asked incredulously.

“Oh, I don’t know sweetie.  Why don’t you call the manufacturers of the game and get their opinion?”  River asked sarcastically.  She yawned and climbed under the covers of the bed.  After all, she had already been tired before they started playing the games.

The Doctor hopped out of the bed and put his hands on his hips.  “Maybe I will.  Since apparently we need a winner.”

River rolled over so that she was facing the other way and sighed.  “Be my guest, but don’t expect them to take you seriously.”  She yawned again and closed her eyes.  “Good nig-“  She didn’t finish her sentence, as she already heard the bedroom door slam shut as the Doctor ran to the console room.

The next morning, River shuffled into the TARDIS kitchen wearing a purple dressing gown, ready for a cup of very strong coffee.  Before she could take a sip however, the Doctor came up to her with a piece of paper held tightly in his fist.

“Ha!”  He grinned and waved the paper around wildly.

“Ha?”  River repeated quietly, one eyebrow arched curiously.

“Yes!  I took your advice and contacted the manufacturers of the game we were playing last night.  At first they were a bit doubtful about our predicament, but I convinced them to take me seriously.  They said, and I quote, ‘I suppose that if you are completing the tasks before the timer stops you, you have successfully played the game.’”

It took River a moment to register what the Doctor was talking about.  “Are you seriously still bothered about last night?  It’s a game Doctor.  Amy has an eight-year-old cousin that could put us both to shame at it.”  Despite what she was saying, her arms had crossed over her chest defensively.  “And besides, we both know it doesn’t really matter.  Not in real life.”

The Doctor shrugged and glanced back at their bedroom, where the television still sat in front of the bathroom door.  “If it’s not important, then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind spending ten minutes to see if either of us got better over night?”  He looked back at where his wife was standing, expecting her to say no.  However, she was already in the bedroom, turning the game on.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I am planning on writing some more in-depth and serious stuff tonight.


End file.
